A Black Rose and Two Pink Carnations
by ReaderPal
Summary: When Raven gets up in the middle of the night Starfire is puzzled at her friend's behavior. She follows her only to find a shocking but not completely unwelcomed surprise. Femslash. A prequel to "Stormy Friendship and Sunny Love".  Reposted!


**A Black Rose and Two Pink Carnations!**

**By** **Readerpal**

Disclaimer: if I owned the Teen Titans then Beast Boy would be in love with Sarah Hunter (from the Titans Go comics), and Raven would be with… well, you'll see!

Author's Note: Raven may act (somewhat) out of character in this story as the emotional aspect of 'Anger' that kept her powers aligned with her emotions was summoned from her mind and eventually destroyed. I may tell the story of this at a later date. The Title of this story comes from what a black rose and a pink carnation symbolize. A pink carnation symbolizes a woman's love.

2nd Authors Note: I'm reposting this story and would like to know why the original was taken down in the 1st Place.

Summary: when Raven gets up in the middle of the night Starfire is puzzled at her friend's behavior. She follows her only to find a shocking but not completely unwelcomed surprise.

Thoughts: ' '

Speech: " "

Authors Musings/Info: [ ]

The night air was pleasantly cold, with many cool breezes going all throughout the sky. Even the large T which serves as the base and living quarters of the original Teen Titans was not completely unaffected by this.

Starfire was currently sleeping peacefully in her bed with light purple covers and pink pillows. Her pet grub "Silky" was resting beside her in a half red and half black sleeping bag, created by Aragent for Starfire's last birthday.

As destiny would have it, at this very moment the grub broke the intergalactic record for loudest snore ever made by an insect in the galaxy. Starfire opened her eyes and looked at her pet to make sure he was all right.

'After all', she thought, 'only one night before I'd had a dream about Raven getting revenge on my beloved sleeping companion for taking a nap in her salad (Silky can certainly _snore _when he wants to). Not even my sister would consume it, and she actually enjoys insects… provided she is paid to eat them, of course.' I had dreamed that that friend Raven sold Silky to an exotic (as I believe is called) food restaurant in exchange for a large pile of cash.'

After Starfire realized that her pet/friend was all right. She almost went back to bed when she heard a noise from outside her room.

'Who could that be at this hour? Is my beloved Robin sleep-crime fighting again, or is friend Beast Boy having a midnight tofu snack?'

After a second Starfire's curiosity finally got the better of her. She put on a robe over her pajamas, she opened the door and gasped softly. She whispered to herself "that's friend Raven, as far as I know she never gets up at this late at night if she can help it. What is she doing?" Starfire then noticed that Raven was wearing a grey coat with red angels and blue demons on to. She apparently did this just in case it got colder than it already was. Starfire then saw that her friend was carrying something.

She said to herself "flowers? I wonder what she's doing with them Raven doesn't even like yuri's (lilies)… my favorite kind of flower."

Raven proceeded to the Towers roof. Upon doing so she flew off into the night sky toward Jump City. Starfire followed her (though somewhat reluctantly) as her curiosity grew. While flying through the air Starfire was having conflicting thoughts on her actions. 'I probably should not be doing this… I feel like a mother Gits-nab [Tamaranean tiger-like animal] stalking her prey. I am not a stalker, I am not a stalker, I am not a stalker…'

Despite these thoughts Starfire's concern for her friend outweighed everything else.

After 15 minutes of flying they reached their destination a deserted street near a middle-class urban neighborhood. In the darkness of Starfire could see a figure 1 foot away from where Raven was. This figure were shrouded in darkness and stood next to a street lamp but was not bathed in its light. The figure stepped into the light as its orange/dirt-brown hoodie concealed all but its eyes. The eyes were looking left and right every few seconds as though expecting to be attacked from either side of the street. The figure wore black pants, red socks, yellow hiking boots, and a pair of dusty, worn, yet oddly familiar, dull-brown gloves.

Starfire now noticed that Raven was halfway toward the figure and was visibly agitated as though she could not wait to meet this individual. The figures were now only 2 inches away from each other and StarFire wondered what would happen now. The figure raised one arm and slowly pulled back its hood. From her current position Starfire couldn't see who it was, so she's slowly flew from behind the wall as she was hiding behind and dropped silently behind a mailbox. 'I can see the face of the mysterious person who friend Raven has come here to see…. dear X'Hal! It is friend Terra! What is she doing here with friend Raven?'

Raven gave an uncharacteristic smirk now I she handed Terra the flowers. Terra responded by grasping the flowers and blushing slightly. Raven chuckled softly and said "hey I'm only returning the favor you did for me four months ago. I'll never understand where you manage to find jet black roses, though.

"It's my (2nd) dads hobby, is a botanist and geneticist. He used to work with Poison Ivy before she became a sultry super villain."

Raven smirked at the mental image that came into her head as the last three words the woman had spoken reached her ears. She quickly changed the subject and said" indeed… um, so how are your _parents _anyway?"

"My forster parents are fine, thanks for asking. I still can't thank you enough for getting me set up in my new life."

"It was nothing, the moment I asked myself why nothing was working with the whole "us trying to turn you from stone to flesh' thing. Then I remembered the time Beast Boy had become a beautiful butterfly in order to brighten up Starfire. I begin to wonder then if all our attempts to save you might not be interfering with some natural process that has to do with your maturity. By this I mean in terms of your power and your maturity as a person allowing you to escape from your stone prison."

At the mention of Beast Boy's name, Terra visibly flinched as the name brought bad memories to her conscious mind for a moment.

Raven thought 'it seems she still has some issues to deal with regarding her past.'

Raven then reached up and grasped Terra by the shoulder with her right hand and looked her in the eyes. She spoke her voice was filled with both concern and hopeful philosophy. "On another note, do you know what a black rose symbolizes?"

"Sort of… I know it means that somebody is bidding someone else farewell or that they have completed a difficult journey, it's also a symbol of pure devotion to someone or something."

"Such is the journey I have made in order to find someone who I could love, even beyond death. You're correct but you missed one detail… the symbolic love of a black rose is far deeper than that of a red one."

As Raven said this Starfire watched in shock as Terra with a slight bit of slowness moved her head forward and pressed her lips against Raven's. The kiss was short but full of passion. Raven looked at Terra playfully and said "what are you doing?"

Terra smirked and said "returning the favor you gave me from our last date."

Starfire was stunned. 'My dear friend Raven likes other females? I thought on this planet such things were forbidden? That is one thing about this planet's culture I may never understand: why do humans hate someone just for loving another being? On my world all love is sacred and is regarded as a divine gift. Love is like a ruler with people's desires and preferences scattered all throughout it as though they were points on a number line. Some are even outside of this "ruler' metaphor and are still accepted as members of our community nevertheless. But here… it is different. Love is seen as a choice and not as a goddess's gift worthy of praise.

The reason I have never attempted to attract any female at all is that I would be even more socially isolated and I am now… something I pray will never happen.'

Starfire struggled to hold back a yawn. She realized that she was exhausted. 'I think I had better leave before friend Raven and friend Terra start with the making of outs. I am starting to believe the earth culture is beginning to corrupt me. I think of lust far too often for my own good.'

The red haired princess then flew away leaving the two girlfriends alone.

Raven put her head on Terra's shoulders and yawned slightly.

Terra giggled a bit and said "looks like Raven the Magic Beauty needs to go to sleep."

"You're telling me, I'm exhausted, um…. can I sleep at your house?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I'm exhausted and it's hard to see when you want to sleep badly so I don't think flying back to the tower is an option."

"Okay, I guess you can sleep at my house. [They've been going out for about a year and three month's now] Just make sure you leave for my parents get up, all right?"

"Got it" Raven said with a slight smile.

The two walked towards Terra's house, which was only two blocks away.

The next morning Raven woke up as the sun continuously sent out its morning rays. Raven turned her head look at Terra and was surprised to find Terra snoring softly with her thighs spread out and her knees bent. This give her an appearance reminded Raven somewhat of a tuning fork. Raven shifted her body until she was face to face with her girlfriend and grinned wickedly. She then massaged Terra's shoulders gently and kissed her several times in a row while shaking her body just a bit. This finally caused Terra to wake up and blush deeply, her face a mixture of surprise and embarrassment. "Why did you do that?" She asked puzzled.

Raven's smile grew wider as she responded "I'm just returning the favor so you can return it again the next time we see each other"

Terra sighed "you're crazy, sometimes you know that."

"Sometimes one has to be a little crazy in order to survive; besides I'm not the one talking to a girl of questionable parentage. After all, my father is the most powerful demon known to exist. Fortunately, he lacked the imagination to use his abilities in a creative manner."

Tara smiled "As far as I'm concerned your lineage is fine, you are as beautiful as the most beautiful thing you, yourself can think of."

Raven grinned "which is you, by the way."

Terra gave a fake bow and responded "I'm flattered by your kindness." She threw back the sheets and said" oh well it's time to get up."

For a moment raven stared… she herself was wearing an oversized pale blue shirt that went down to her knees but Terra…

Tarot was wearing a white sweatshirt, her trademark gloves and goggles, and yellow boxer shorts that had an endlessly repeated picture of Mount Rushmore on them.

"Boxer shorts, they fit you… I mean you in terms of personality. Your adaptability, your common sense, your ruggedness and you experiences… that and, your kind of boyish to begin with."

Terra teased "I guess that's true…is that why you love me so much?"

Raven responded "well that is one reason. The best of both worlds I guess. You are cute like that." Terra blushed slightly. Raven continued "another the reason is that I'd like to see your brother in reclaiming your throne and with training from me you should be able to aid him in that cause (secretly of course)."

Tara looked at Raven thoughtfully and said "well, I'm not sure if I'm really princess material, but I think my brother would make a good king. I would like to have the use of my powers (just in case). Provided of course; I could control them."

"If you really are a butterfly, you will get there in time. I have a reasonably good idea of what makes your powers go crazy but we'll talk about that another time.

Raven looked at Terra as she lifted herself off her bed and walked around it towards her closet so she could go to her bathroom and get dressed. During this the sorceress remarked "Fortunately, you're not going commando… I don't want any spoilers."

Terra had to hold her tongue so she wouldn't burst out laughing at her girlfriend's comment. A minute or so later Raven left the room through a portal that led to own domicile. This left Terra with a night filled with many pleasant and relatively harmless memories that made her yearn for the rest of the day and for the next time she would see her beloved girlfriend again. The two of them had both been on hard journeys to reach the point they were now at… that their love for each other made their lives seem worthwhile and gave them hope and joy they had never known before. Sometimes flowers are more special then one might imagine.

**Epilogue:**

It was nine o'clock in the morning and Starfire was still in bed sleeping. There was a knock on her door and Starfire said loudly" please leave me be, friends. I am trying to sleep!"

Cyborg looked at Robin and said with a knowing smirk "all right what did you and Starfire do last night that made her so tired?"

For a minute or so Robin looked like a tomato with eyes and hair as he turned as red as can be. Finally, he said "StarFire and I didn't do that last night. Besides, she's under age under both American and Tamaranean law. That being said, there are three years between a Tamaranean's legal adult age and a females first fertility period."

Cyborg stared at his friend and said "dude… she tells you too much stuff."

Robin shrugged and replied "well anyway I am in no way responsible for her current lack of sleep and in fact I think I'll go inside a room and see what the matter is."

Beast Boy shrugged and warned "is your funeral pal, she could rip your arms off if she wanted to."

I know that what she's my girlfriend and I trust her… even if she is angry and suffering

from lack of sleep.

He then entered the room as Starfire put her fingers in her ears to block out the noise of her door closing.

Robin asked "Starfire, what's wrong with you?"

StarFire sighed and replied" well, since you or my lover I suppose I should tell you. Last night I was awakened by a noise and I saw friend Raven leaving the tower. I followed her and I committed in invasion of her privacy. I saw something I shouldn't have, something she has good reason to keep hidden from us."

Robin looked concerned and asked "Starfire, can you tell me what that _something_ was?"

I'm afraid I cannot Robin. Such an act might destroy my friendship with Raven. It might even put Raven's relationship with the entire team in jeopardy."

Robin sighed and nodded "well if it's that serious then forget I asked. Anyway get some sleep for at least another three hours; I want to see you dressed and ready by 12:40 in the afternoon okay?"

Yes Robin, I believe that is agreeable."

As Starfire went back to sleep Robin closed the door and thought 'she's probably overreacting. After everything the team has been through and seen, it's hard to think of anything that would surprise us at this point and threaten our team's unity. Still I wonder what Raven did last night…'

The air was warm and there was no wind in the air around Titans Tower…

The End

Author's note: after Terra was freed from her imprisonment Raven took pity on her and helped her get set up in her new home after she was adopted. Read and review, please.


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